Joe-Pye weed named after legendary herb doctor

By Charles Seabrook

For the AJC

Who was Joe Pye?

The question often pops up this time of year when a showy, late-summer wildflower known as Joe-Pye weed blooms abundantly in moist, sunny spots in Georgia’s woods, meadows and roadsides.

During a walk along a stretch of the Appalachian Trail at Woody Gap near Dahlonega last weekend, we members of the Georgia Botanical Society found two species of Joe-Pye weed in bloom -- which prompted the inevitable question about the man Joe Pye.

According to legend, he was a colonial New England herb doctor -- some say a Native American -- who was very skillful in making potions from wild plants to treat a variety of ailments. Known as a “yarb man,” his specialty was reducing fevers.

He was especially fond of using a group of robust, closely related late-summer wildflowers to treat ailments such as diarrhea, kidney stones and fever. The plants came to be called Joe-Pye weeds, making Pye one of just a handful of herb doctors to have a plant named in his honor. He supposedly gained fame when he used a Joe-Pye weed to stop a typhus epidemic.

All of the plants that we call Joe-Pye weed today belong to the genus Eutrochium (formerly Eupatorium). The ones we saw blooming last weekend were hollow Joe-Pye weed and sweet Joe-Pye weed (the flowers smell of vanilla). Pale Joe-Pye weed (also known as trumpet weed) and spotted Joe-Pye weed also are found in Georgia. They grow 3 to 8 feet tall; their large, eye-catching flowers range from deep pink to purplish pink.

Other Joe-Pye weed cousins now blooming include boneset, said to be helpful in setting broken bones; white snakeroot (poisonous), which grows throughout Georgia; and whitish-flowered thoroughwort.

Speaking of home remedies, a plant often found growing near Joe-Pye weed is orange (or spotted) jewelweed. Indeed, nearly everywhere we found Joe-Pye weed last weekend, we also found jewelweed in bloom.

Jewelweed contains a soothing fungicide that makes it effective in treating athlete’s foot and other skin maladies. It also helps relieve the burns of nettle stings and is one of the best antidotes for preventing the intense itching and inflammation from poison ivy.

So when one of the folks in our group brushed up against some poison ivy with her bare arm during our walk last weekend, a fellow member quickly crushed up some handy jewelweed leaves and handed the mass to her to rub on her arm.

The spotted jewelweed’s small, inch-long flowers also are popular with nectar-sipping hummingbirds and butterflies. Come fall, the flowers will become swollen fruit that will burst at a touch to disperse the seeds. Hence, the jewelweed’s other name, touch-me-not.

IN THE SKY: The moon will be first quarter on Tuesday night -- in the south at sunset and setting around midnight -- said David Dundee, astronomer with Tellus Science Museum. Mercury is very low in the east at dawn. Venus, shining bright, and Mars set in the west about two hours after sunset. Jupiter rises out of the east just after sunset. Saturn is very low in the west at sunset and sets about an hour later.